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56 Duke L.J. 1621 (2006-2007)
Per Se Reasonable Suspicion: Police Authority to Stop Those Who Flee from Road Checkpoints

handle is hein.journals/duklr56 and id is 1633 raw text is: PER SE REASONABLE SUSPICION: POLICE AUTHORITY TO STOP THOSE WHO FLEE FROM ROAD CHECKPOINTS SHAN PATEL INTRODUCTION Picture this scenario: It is closing time for bars and all the customers are forced to leave. Rather than calling a taxi, an intoxicated patron decides to take his chances and drive home. He exits the parking lot and turns onto the road to his house. Suddenly he sees traffic cones and flashing blue lights ahead-a sobriety checkpoint. Panic hits the driver with full force as he contemplates what to do. Then he launches into a plan of action. The driver makes an abrupt, but legal, U-turn using a driveway and reverses direction to avoid the checkpoint. He knows another way home that does not require passing through the checkpoint. A police officer sees his evasive action and pursues him. Should the officer be able to stop the driver as he attempts to flee? Would it make a difference if the intoxicated driver was actually smuggling illegal aliens or a convicted felon? What if he was a terrorist with a bomb in his car? This scenario is not far-fetched; many drivers have sought to evade checkpoints! Courts, however, have disagreed over whether law enforcement officials may stop the fleeing vehicles. This Note investigates the legal issues surrounding the evasion of police checkpoints and argues that the Supreme Court should adopt a bright-line rule that allows police to stop vehicles that attempt to evade checkpoints Copyright © 2007 by Shan Patel. 1. See infra notes 99-105 and accompanying text. 2. Such a rule instructs states on how to read the Fourth Amendment. Of course, states are free to reach different conclusions (that better protect individual liberties) based on their own constitutions.

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